The AIG presents Rugby Weekend kicks off on Friday, November 4 when the USA Rugby Men’s Eagles play the Maori All Blacks at Toyota Park at 7pm CT in Bridgeview, Illinois. On Saturday, November 5, Ireland will play the New Zealand All Blacks at Soldier Field in Chicago at 3pm CT. (8pm in Ireland and Sun 6 Nov, 9.00AM NZT)

Tickets for the Eagles v Maori All Blacks are available on TicketMaster. Tickets for the All Blacks v Ireland match may be also obtained through TicketMaster.

Joe Schmidt has named an experienced side for the test against New Zealand. Should Joe Carbery and Garry Ringrose enter the match, they will earn their first international cap for Ireland.

In the forwards , the front row will consist of Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong at props with rory Best at Hooker. Donnacha Ryan and Devin Toner will be the locks with CJ Stander, Jordi Murphy and Jamie Heaslip in the back-row.

In the backs, Conor Murray will team with Jonathan Sexton at halfbacks, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne man the centers, while Simon Zebo and Andrew Trimble patrol the wings. Rob Kearney comes in at fullback.

In examining Ireland’s test performance in during the last year. They went 3-3 in the Rugby World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals before bowing out to Argentina. They then played in February and March in the Six Nations winning two, tying one and losing two. In June they played South Africa twice losing both matches by six points each.

The All Blacks will be a formidable test as they enter the test with a 18 consecutive match win streak. Ireland will need to play almost flawless rugby to beat the All Blacks for the first time.

After Ireland faces the All Blacks in their first of four November test matches, they will travel back home Ireland to face Canada on Saturday November 12, New Zealand again on November 19, and then Australia, all at Aviva Stadium.

The New Zealand All Blacks established a new record for consecutive match wins at 18 on October 22, 2016 with their 37-10 win against the Australia’s Wallabies at Auckland in the Bledisloe Cup. They had previously held 17 consecutive match wins twice. They also have now won 45 consecutive wins on Zealand soil.

New Zealand and Ireland have played each other 28 times, with the All blacks winning 27 times with a 1973 match a draw. The teams last played on November 24, 2013 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin with New Zealand winning 24-22 on a last minute try and conversion.

This match also will see Julian Savea earn his 50th international cap, as well as Scott Barrett earn his first when he enters the match from the bench. It will also be of interest to see if Julian and his brother Ardie and Scott and his brother Barrett and on the pitch at the same time.

The All Blacks are an experienced side who know how to close out matches. In the front row, props Joe Moody and Owen Franks will team with Dane Coles with Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Charlie Faumuina and Codie Taylor as front row replacements. Jerome Kaino and Patrick Tuipulotu will be the locks.

The backrow will consist of Liam Squire at blindside flanker and Same Cane at open side flanker. Kieran Read, who will captain the side is at eight man. Ardie Savea is a reserve loose forward.

In the backs, Aaron Smith will be the scrumhalf with Beauden Barrett at flyhalf. The centers will have the duo of Ryan Crotty and George Moala, with Julian Savea and Waisake Naholoat wing. Vice-captain Ben Smith will be at fullback. The replacement backs are TJ Perenara, Aaron Cruden and Malakai Fekitoa.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: “Firstly, we want to congratulate Scott on being selected in the matchday 23 for the first time. It will be special day for him and the entire Barrett family, including his two brothers who are touring with him. Also, we want to congratulate Julian on reaching 50 Tests. That is a significant achievement and again he and his family can be rightly proud of everything he has achieved in the black jersey.

“Returning to Chicago for only the second time in our history has, once again, been a great experience. The team have embraced the sporting atmosphere and the culture of the city and we really appreciate the way we’ve been looked after by the people of Chicago.

“As far as our preparation for Saturday has gone, we have knuckled down and done some great work throughout the week.

“The challenge we face from Ireland is a massive one. They’re a well-coached team with quality players, they play to their strengths and they’re very good at identifying and attacking the weaknesses of the opposition they face. We anticipate them using some special plays that we haven’t seen before, as well as bringing a very physical, ‘in-your-face’ attitude and a structured kicking game. Knowing all this has created a good edge in our group.

“Having said that, I’m most interested in seeing what we’ll bring to the contest because, like us, they too have weaknesses and there’ll be a need to bring our own physicality, and structures to take the game to them for the full 80 minutes.

“With this being the first game of the four-match Vista Northern Tour, it gives us an opportunity to take our game to the next level.”

After the match against Ireland in Chicago, the All Blacks will face Italy on Nov. 12 at 3:00pm CET (Sun 13 Nov, 3:00AM NZT) at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. They have a second match against Ireland on Nov. 19 at 5:30pm GMT (Sun 20 Nov, 6:30AM NZT) at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. They conclude their tests against France on Nov. 26 at 9:00pm CET (Sun 27 Nov, 9.00AM NZT) at Stade de France in Paris.